Bound to Be in Trouble
by FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom
Summary: After an intense argument between Ed and Roy, Riza manages to convince them to talk to a therapist to improve their relationship. However, they didn't expect the therapist to be a psychotic she-devil who tied Ed and Roy together with a seemingly unbreakable chain. PARENTAL RoyEd, some Royai
1. Chapter 1

**One**

"Remind me again Lieutenant, why are we here?" Roy muttered, his arms crossed across his chest. The Colonel was seated on the green fabric of the cushioned chairs, his sloppy posture reflecting his foul mood. On the opposite side of the narrow waiting area, Ed was yelling furiously at Al, the younger sibling trying in vain to calm him down.

"Must I Sir?" Hawkeye sighed, even her seemingly endless patience being tried. Mustang sensed this and snorted.

"No, never mind."

Besides, he knew full well why he was about to see a counselor with the blonde brat.

_It all started the morning before, when Edward was delivering his written report about a recent mission…_

"You call this a report?" Mustang had snorted mockingly, flicking the sheet of scrawled-handwriting onto his desk. "I could barely read the damn thing."

"Then how about you write a better one!" Ed snapped, a nerve bulging on his head. Mustang slid on his wheeled chair, leaning over the ill-organized desk. He smirked, knowing Ed's short temper was about to blow.

"Well FullMetal, I wouldn't have destroyed the Town Hall if _I_ had been there, so I suppose it'd be easier for me to write one."

Ed turned his head to the side, his golden iris still locked on the Colonel. "I get it, I get it, you know everything I do." By how he was gritting his teeth, Roy could tell one more sly remark from him would result in Ed turning on heel, yelling some swears while storming out of the office and building, calling for his brother.

The sooner, the better, Roy had thought at the time. He hadn't slept well the night before, so the sooner the damn meeting was over, the sooner he could find an excuse to go and sleep in the files room.

"Please FullMetal, I don't know everything you do. You just have such a predictable nature it's easy to tell what your actions would be." He had rolled his eyes, not kidding the smirk on his face as he leaned back in his chair, the back of it squeaking in protest.

Ed snapped his head back to glare at him, his left eye twitching ever so slightly. Roy was certain he was about to do almost the routine departure, but then the blonde surprised him.

"_I _have a predictable nature!?" Ed repeated, anger building in his voice. "_You're _one to talk! I can practically rehearse these damn meetings with you!"

Roy hadn't let his shock show on his face. It was unusual for Edward to just come out and insult him. He was often more subtle with how he mocked the Colonel. More often than not, insulting him behind his back, but hardly ever to his face.

"You don't practice enough then." Roy had snorted, silently hoping his moments' hesitation wasn't as obvious to everyone as to the Lieutenant standing quietly to his side. "After all, you seem to stutter more than actually talk."

"At least I don't YAWN mid-sentence!" Ed retorted. Roy twitched, his own temper beginning to boil. The alchemist went on "What the hell do you do at night that makes you so damn tired!?"

"Well let's see…" Roy gritted his teeth, his calm composure crumbling. "Oh, I remember. I actually _do my work._"

Ed laughed "Do your work? Like what? Those piles of paperwork that look like they were due…" Ed picked one up, studying the heading. He mocked a surprised expression "Oh my, Mustang, this one looks like it was due TWO WEEKS AGO."

Sometime during the conversation, Roy had gotten to his feet, although he didn't spend more than half a second thinking about that. "If I remember correctly, I'm always so behind on my work because I'm always _CLEANING UP YOUR MESSES."_

"If you'd just TELL ME what the purpose of my mission ACTUALLY IS, INSTEAD OF TRYING TO MAKE ME YOUR PUPPET-"

"_Don't flatter yourself."_

"ONE MORE WORD YOU BASTARD AND I WILL KNOCK YOUR TEETH OUT!"

"TRY AND I'LL TORCH YOU."

"YOU-"

"_BOYS."_ Hawkeye yelled over the two of them. "I'm used to you getting into ridiculous arguments, but when one of you starts threatening to hurt the other, that's when I've had enough!"

Roy and Ed hadn't moved their angry glares from one another, although Roy realized he had actually pulled on his glove sometime during the argument. When the hell did he lose track of his own actions? Ed's stance wasn't necessarily friendly either, his feet spread apart as if he were about to fight. Gradually, Roy removed his glove and let his hand fall back to his side. Edward seemed to be forcing himself to breathe deeply, his left fist tightening to the point his knuckles were white.

"That's it." Riza muttered. "You two really need to improve your relationship."

"_WHAT!?" _the almost-combatants exclaimed.

"Did I stutter?" the Lieutenant said, straightening herself. "If two subordinates constantly argue, with no sign of concern for the other, how can you trust each other? Thinking about that case, how could you possibly trust each other with your life if need be?"

"I don't want to spend time with _that bastard!" _Ed snapped.

"I didn't ask you what you wanted, Edward." Hawkeye said bluntly. "I'll see what I can do for the two of you. Edward, don't try to run off. Colonel, make sure you get those papers done." She spoke curtly, making her way to the door. "I'll call the two of you tomorrow if I find anything."

_And that call had happened, unfortunately. _

Roy snorted again, blowing his dark bangs out of his face. He knew full well that Hawkeye had good intentions, but the idea of 'talking' to a complete stranger with no one else but Edward in the room rubbed him the wrong way. Especially since the type of therapist Riza had decided upon was a _Family Counselor_, which was Hawkeye's way of saying to both him and Ed 'Be like family'.

And she knew full damn well whatever family experience he has usually goes up in flames.

He had hoped that Ed had ignored Riza's orders the day before and had left with Al to go wherever. But Hawkeye had foreseen him doing something of the sort and made sure the first thing she did was tell Alphonse about her idea. And like the overly-caring little brother Alphonse is, he thought it was a 'great idea' and managed to convince Ed to come to this shabby little building.

Although that description was probably just Roy's temper fuming. In reality, the building was well built and clean, the beige walls and mild green chairs in the waiting room sturdy yet comfortable. The rug underneath Roy's feet covered a dark wooden floor, the mat itself inscribed with several shades of green and gray depicting birds and vines and the like.

"Edward Elric and Roy Mustang." A receptionist said, smiling. Roy scowled, he knew full well from past experiences that were a fake, well-practiced smile most people in this career field had.

"Please behave Brother." Al chided Ed softly, Ed snorting as he trudged to follow the lady. Roy sighed, getting up from his seat and following them, motioning with a small twitch of his index finger to show Hawkeye he had seen the look that said 'Behave.'

Might as well get this damn thing over with.

**HA-HA! THE FIRST CHAPTER HAS BEEN WRITTEN!**

**Yeah… Um, don't feel like scrolling back up to write an A/N there. So I don't own FMA. Parental RoyEd, some Royai. I probably won't write much more for this in a while because I kind of just came up with it 40 minutes ago. **

**Unless, you know. Reviews. **

**Unless those reviews are like the ones for The FullMetal Warrior where people just say 'this was good' then nothing else. I hate one-lined reviews. Write some random crap or whatever-**

**Denny: Fox, Fox, Fox.**

**WHAT.**

**Denny: I think you're still in 'Roy-Mode.'**

**Oh. Well. Sorry about that people. n.n Heheheheh, got too into character there, it became hard for me not to sound like Roy… But I would still enjoy reviews longer than a sentence. If that's okay with you I mean!**

**Denny: Way to be Fluttershy… Well, I'm Denny Brosch, and I guess I get to be a muse! Yay!**


	2. Chapter 2

**BEHOLD, ONE OF MY MOST PRECIOUS CHARACTERS SHALL BE REVEALED THIS CHAPTER.**

**I do not own FMA. (Oh look! I am updating!)**

**Two**

Just listening to this bitch cheerily chatter on was making him grind his teeth.

The only reason why he had bothered showing up was because Al had been so persistent, arguing that he might actually have to depend on the Bastard one day. The idea of spending more time with the jackass then mandatory made him want to vomit, but if this was what would help Al feel a bit more comfortable, then he'd do it. Not happily, of course. But he'd do it.

The bitch herself was questionable in her choice of career. She had her long, messy auburn hair in a shaggy ponytail, her bangs covering more than half of her forehead and sloppily tucked behind one ear. She wore a white shirt trimmed in red, and some odd brand of shoes that Ed had never heard of. They looked like little more than red, closed-toed sandals with laces. She wore narrow, oval-shaped glasses that she didn't even seem to need.

Vacantly, Ed shuffled through his agitated memory for the woman's name. Abigale something. He found it difficult to care, but his mind wandered back to his little brother, stuck in a tin can with no refuge of any kind… Yet he was concerned for him. So he took a deep breath, making sure to make it subtle so the Bastard wouldn't notice. Anything to ease Al's endless worries…

"Roy Mustang." Ed heard Mustang say, and he realized that the woman must've asked for their names. He straightened himself and forced his thoughts to be grounded back in reality.

"Edward Elric." He said flatly. Wouldn't the bitch know their names before agreeing to talk to them?

"Excellent, Excellent!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. Ed didn't bother trying to cover his annoyed groan. This lady got excited over anything, didn't she? "Now I'd like to say it's nice to see you two, but obviously _one_ of you" she cast a glance at Edward "doesn't seem to want to be here."

Ed glowered at the lady as she leaned back in her chair.

"Well anywho, the two of you can call me Aby." She grinned "And I'll call you Ed and Roy, 'kay?"

"I don't mean to sound rude…" Roy said, his tone polite. Although Ed knew that was fake as hell "But wouldn't it be more professional to call us by our actual names?"

"Well your nickname happens to be your actual name." Aby sighed. "And besides, casual names make for a more relaxed environment, so it'd make it more comfortable for the two of you to be able to actual talk to one another."

"I have no intention to TALK to that _Bastard._" Ed gritted his teeth.

Roy didn't say anything, though his eyes narrowed as his shoulder tensed up. Aby spun around in her office chair again, supporting her 'no-need-to-be-professional' theory. After a moment she set her elbows on her vacant desk, supporting her chin on her folded hands.

"So I believe I know the issue." She said confidently. She arched one eyebrow, her lips widening to a teeth-baring grin. "You two do not get along."

"NO SHIT." Ed gasped exaggeratingly. "I had no damn idea!"

"Yes! See! That's it!" Abigale laughed, spinning in her chair. If she heard the obvious sarcasm in Ed's voice, she showed no sign of it. Mustang rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath that Edward couldn't quite make out.

"Stop being such a brat, FullMetal. She's just trying to lighten the mood." He said louder.

"Don't lecture me!" Ed snapped, clenching his fists. He hated it when Mustang did that! Lecture him like he was a dim-witted kid, as if Roy knew any better! What made him think he had the right to do that!

"Don't make reasons for me to lecture you and I won't." Roy yawned. Ed twitched. The jackass didn't even seem to think about it to come back with a retort. So being a bastard must just come naturally to him.

"Stop pissing me off and maybe I'd stop giving you reasons to lecture me!" A weak comeback, but there it was and there was no taking it back now. It didn't matter, it did its job. Roy's dark iris darted to glare at him, the corner of his eye twitching ever so slightly.

"If you didn't have such a short temper, it'd be harder for me to piss you off." He said bluntly. The blonde gritted his teeth and got to his feet in an attempt to threaten the much taller male.

"Maybe the reason why I have 'such a short temper' is because you never shut your damn mouth!"

"Perhaps you should try listening to what I tell you every now and again, FullMetal. Who knows, maybe you can actually improve yourself."

"Like YOUR advice could ever help me!"

"As if you would ever stop yelling for a moment to hear what I say."

"Be grateful I let you open your mouth at all!"

"**What was that you runt?" **

"YOU HEARD ME!"

"DAMMIT FULLMETAL I SWEAR-"

The two broke into an argument again, forgetting entirely the quirky counselor in the room. She studied them carefully, listening to how they spoke and their tone, watching their movements as the argument progressed. Her dark eyes glinted brown behind her tinted shades. She knew the two of them obviously both had family issues in the past. Her gaze locked on Ed. He was obviously there because of a sibling. Her pupils slid to Roy. Why was he there? Convinced by a dear friend perhaps? No, he was obviously despising this session as much as Edward was, so it was much more than a friend. It didn't really matter who convinced them to come to her anyway, the point is they were there.

Two very-talented, very-clever alchemists. Two souls so similar that they couldn't help but find all their faults in each other.

She leaned and propped her head on one hand, scratching under her eye with the other. They were alchemists, so she wouldn't be able to just do anything. Trying to hurt them wouldn't do anything for her except get that suit of armor in here to kick her ass. She didn't want that to happen again.

Suddenly Aby recalled what Ed had said earlier in the session. 'I have no intention to talk to that bastard.' A familiar toothy grin found her. Well, he was talking to him now. Loud and angrily, but talking none the less. A storm would start loud and angrily too, but after time resides. Perhaps these two were like that? A storm?

The hand she had used to cease her itching caressed the drawer handle of her desk. She could use that. After all, she is 'helping them'. It wouldn't hurt. Unless they were stupid enough to try and break it.

She got the feeling they were.

This was going to be hilarious.

"Okay, boys!" she chirped, clapping. Quickly switching over to a more trusting, naïve tone she continued "I believe I might know how to help you."

The two of them didn't break their angry staring contest. Good. Better they not be able to see it coming. Aby silently yet quickly made her way to them and secured oddly chain-like collars around each of their necks, an oddly chain-like rope dangling between them.

"What the hell!?" Ed yelled, jumping back from Abigale. She grinned cheerfully, waving a bronze key in between her thumb and index fingers.

Roy tugged at the chain experimentally, feeling the links in between his fingers for a moment. He sighed. "This isn't going to do anything you know."

"Would it?" Aby smiled.

"No. It won't." Ed snapped, clapping his hands. The red-haired woman suppressed a laugh. Oh boy, he gets to set the example.

The blonde clamped the chain in between his hands, casting the metal aglow with alchemic energy. For a moment, it actually looked like it was going to break.

But then, the blue light from the transmutation got sucked back into the metal. Like lightning, it rebounded back onto the foolish alchemist, sending him banging into the wall with a small grunt from part surprise, mostly pain.

"Oww…." Ed gritted his teeth, pushing himself up onto his hands. He locked his angry golden glare onto the woman. "What the hell did you do?"

"Me?" Aby smiled "Why, I didn't do anything. I think the chain just didn't like the idea of being decomposed."

"You b-" Roy started to snap. Aby interrupted him by holding up the key again.

"This here is the only way to get that thing off." She explained joyfully. "Trying to break it with alchemy will cause a rebound that causing quite a bit of pain to the alchemist responsible. Fire doesn't weaken it, and I don't think you'd live long enough to see it break from rust or pressure."

"Listen here, lady-"

"Aby."

"Whatever! Listen, I am a Colonel of the State Military-" Roy growled "And I _order_ you to take this thing off of us."

"Nope." Aby smiled, tilting her head slightly. "You wanted help with your relationship, here it is. Now like I said, this key is the only way to get it off and…" She made quite a show of putting the key in her teeth and swallowing it. "You're not getting _that_ anytime soon!"

Ed stumbled to his feet and clapped his hands again.

"Oh come on, Ed." Aby sighed, her bangs getting lose from behind her ear and sweeping down to cover half her face "It hurt so much the first time, didn't it? Just be obedient for now and try and get along with Mustang. In a week, we'll see how you're getting along and I'll unlock it, okay?"

"I'm not staying _chained_ to _him_ for a WEEK!" Ed snapped, sweeping out his arm. "I mean…It'd be awkward!"

"Oh don't worry about things like that!" Aby dismissed him with a folding of her fingers. "It's a very…special, type of chain, you see. Seemingly disappears when you're close enough together, just enough space for one of you to sleep on the floor."

Roy's dark eyes scanned her for a moment. Ed couldn't tell what the hell he hoped to figure out by doing that. Or maybe he was just 'investigating' her. Add that to the list of damn things he didn't want to deal with. And this whole thing would just hold up his ultimate goal.

Whatever little respect he had for Mustang shattered when he slowly nodded. "Fine, we'll do this little exercise for a week. Then you unlock us."

"WHAT!? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING-" Roy cut him off with a wave of his hand.

Abigale held one hand up in the air as if pledging an oath "I swear on my life."

"Good." Mustang nodded stiffly. Ed's anger was slightly smothered. Was he nervous about something? Like what, he wasn't going to be able to go into a bar for the next week? At that thought, his fury returned with friends.

"Come on, Ed." The Colonel said curtly, walking out of the room, the chain seemingly vanishing as he passed right by Ed. Before Edward could get his hopes up, it appeared again as he walked out the door, pulling him along. He gave Abigale another angry glare before following him. Like a dog on a damn leash.

Abigale chuckled as the door clicked behind them.

"_I swear on my life."_

**I love Aby. Like, soooo much. **

**Denny: Abigale is one of Fox's oldest characters, dating back to her obsession with the Clifford The Big Red Dog.**

**HEY! I DIDN'T OBESSESS OVER IT-**

**Denny: You spent three days in the living room watching it with your multiple Clifford stuffed animals.**

**So?**

**Denny: You carried around a red dog toy that you named 'Clifford' for the majority of your life.**

**I haven't lived that long.**

**Denny: You still draw him.**

**Who wouldn't draw a giant red dog stepping on stuff?**

**Denny: I-…I don't know how to reply to that. So um…please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Tis a Sunday, meaning I will not post anything again for forever.**

**Denny: She'll forget. Maybe. I don't know, she's never consistent about anything.**

**I am TOO! I just… forget…. *cough***

**Denny: -*rolls eyes* FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom does not own FMA.**

**Three**

Roy did his best to keep his expression calm as Ed stumbled behind him, yelling curses to him and the psychotic bitch. Though he didn't voice it, he did wish Ed would try to keep pace with him, the collar against his neck was very uncomfortable when it appeared.

_When it appeared._

That's pretty much the only reason why he didn't torch the bitch when she had trapped him in the damn thing. He found it interesting. A challenge. And damn did he find that fun.

Though the thought of being chained to Edward for a week made his stomach turn. How the hell would he be able to keep private things private while tied to the brat? The week was going to be tough, but he could use that time to study the material of the chain. It obviously wasn't normal, and by how it rebounded at Edward, it had some special attributes to it. So obviously Abigale Strahn was either a very skilled alchemist to concoct such a thing, or she had connections with one. Either way the military should have records on someone like that.

_Did Hawkeye know how bat-shit crazy that lady was?_ Somehow he doubted it. The Lieutenant wouldn't put him in the company of someone that crazy intentionally. Yet the thought someone like that could elude Riza's observant ways was…interesting.

He'd ask her about it. And speaking of which, now would be a good time as the two of them approached Alphonse and Hawkeye. The flash of confusion in her amber eyes betrayed her shock at the two of them standing so close to one another.

"Hawkeye, I want to talk to you." The man said, walking briskly out the door.

"Wait, how'd it go?" Al asked, catching up with his older brother in two steps of his huge stride. "I'm assuming well…?"

"Not at all." Ed gritted.

"Yes sir?" Riza said over Al's confused reply.

"Did you know that psychiatrist you chose was an insane bitch?" Roy asked, his dark gaze travelling to the Lieutenant's. Her face stayed emotionless, but he could see the uncertainty under the brown of her eyes.

"I didn't think she was Sir." She said "Do you mind if I ask why?"

"BECAUSE SHE TIRED US TOGETHER WITH A DAMN CHAIN!" Ed answered for him. He stepped back from the Colonel a bit, the chain connecting their neck reappearing out of the air.

"What!?" Al gasped "Why would she do that? Did you try breaking it with alchemy? Oh, Brother, I'm so sorry! I didn't know she'd do that! I just wanted to help you-"

"It's not your fault Al." Ed said, his tone suddenly gentler as it always seemed to get whenever Al got flustered in any way. "You didn't know she'd do that, and like you said, you were just trying to help."

Riza nodded slowly to his words, her eyes travelling back to the Colonel from the chain. "I owe you an apology too, Sir. I had no idea."

"Don't apologize." Roy said with a smirk. "It's obvious that this chain or whatever is interesting. It just appears when whoever's attached to it is close enough to another. Trying to break it with alchemy just rebounds it to the alchemist responsible, and I'm going to try my luck with fire in a place less _crowded."_ He said the last word with emphasis, stepping back so the chain would disappear again. Ed muttered something most likely not nice.

"It is odd, I suppose." Riza muttered. "I didn't think she'd do that though…"

"So you knew her?" Ed demanded.

Riza nodded. "Carol has been a good friend of mine for years now and always had a talent for the type of issues I wanted resolved."

"Wait, Carol?" Roy repeated. "Who is that?"

"The therapist you just saw." Riza said, though she was catching on quickly. "Or at least, the one you should've seen. What was the name of the one you just talked to?"

"Abigale Strahn." Mustang said. His Lieutenant raised a brow.

"Now that's odd. She said she'd be there." Her eyes betrayed her already putting pieces together. "I'll go and see what I can find on her, sir."

The 'her' being a vague noun. She didn't specify whether she was going to check up on her friend or the other woman. That was probably for the best though. "Until then Sir, please go home and try to figure out what you can." She nodded at them before turning and walking down the street, her stride purposeful as if often got whenever she believed she made an error.

"So she didn't purposely make us see a psychotic bitch." Ed muttered under his breath.

"You thought she would?" Roy questioned him, studying the boy's sloppy posture.

"I thought she wouldn't be stupid enough to send us in a place like that knowingly unless she meant it." He said bitterly. Mustang clenched his fist and drew in a breath, quickly catching himself before he could retort. Try and keep your thoughts private.

"I'm sorry." Al said, clinking the tips of too large fingers together. He shifted his feet, and Roy couldn't help but find it humorous how a large suit of armor would do such a childish movement. "I shouldn't have insisted you come Brother, it's all my fault…"

"Al, I said it wasn't your fault." Ed said "So stop apologizing, okay? Hawkeye will found out who the bitch is and then we'll get this thing off. It won't take longer than a day." His gaze quickly darted to Roy, the furious gold saying 'It better damn not take longer than that'.

Al still felt guilty, but Roy could tell he was desperate to try and lighten up the mood of himself and Ed. "So where should we stay then, I mean, until we get that chain off?"

"Obviously my place." Mustang intervened. Before Ed could protest, he went on "You two stay in the dorms, so it'd be odd if an officer of my rank stayed there. As for why you two don't stay in your usual place… Well, you have a history of preferring civilian hotels, so no one would really question it if you didn't show up there for a bit."

"That seems reasonable." Al nodded. Ed muttered an agreement, his hands in his pockets.

"Not to mention the neighbors are used to me randomly setting shit on fire, so that's a plus." Roy added. He started to walk and gave Ed a moment to match his pace. Al took position on the other side of his brother and they made their way to Roy's house.

* * *

Now before, Roy had described the building of the crazy bitch as 'shabby'. While in reality, his own house seemed shabbily built. The shingles on the roof were uneven and some looked as if they were falling off. One window had a crack in it, and the lawn was a mess of tangled brush and glasses. The rotting remains of a fence creaked as they walked past it, and the remark of 'This looks like a haunted house' from Ed didn't seem to daunt him at all. It didn't really. He didn't have time to make his house look presentable, why the hell would he waste his free time doing so?

However, the windows gleamed with how clean they were. Roy couldn't stand dirty windows.

The inside wasn't nearly as bad as the out. Organized, if not a bit dusty. Mustang led them through the living room and to a corridor that led under the stairs on the right of the entry way. Going through the hall, he led them through another door that opened into a study. Books littered the shelves; a worn rug was beneath their feet. On the open wall behind a desk, waning sunlight filtered in through a large window. Mustang dragged himself and Ed over to one shelf and started shuffling through the books.

"What the hell are you looking for?" Ed snapped.

"A book." He said bluntly. For a moment, he allowed himself to be amused by Ed's angry growl at the vague answer and then went back to his search. Roy recalled having a book that mentioned something about a chain like this. Yes, it wasn't non-fiction or anything; in fact, it was in a book of myths. But the similarity seemed vivid now that he thought of it. So how the hell would a person get their hands on an object that didn't exist? The only way would be if there was some truth behind a myth.

"You sure have a lot of books, Colonel." Al commented. Roy answered him with an mm-hmmm and continued his reading.

"Do you use them as firewood?" Ed insulted half-heartedly.

"That was weak, FullMetal." Roy muttered, flipping the page of his book.

"Shut up!" Ed snapped. Roy cast a glance to the ill-tempered boy, finding him looking through the books on the lower shelves. Alphonse was more subtly looking around, being the polite kid he is and not touching anything that didn't belong to him.

"You can read something if you want, Alphonse." Roy said, turning back to the pages before him. As soon as he voiced the words, he heard a small 'Thanks' and heard the _clank clank_ of Al's armor as he moved through the study.

Roy didn't care if they looked through his study. He didn't have anything to hide.

In there.

**Woo-hoo! Another chapter! Go me! **

**Denny: You seem to be adding more detail and expressing the character's thoughts better, Fox.**

**Thanks Denny. :3 I try. Anywho, What will Riza find out about Abigale? Is that chain supposedly a myth? Will Ed and Roy get along well enough to not try and hang each other with the chain? What's going through Ed's mind? Stay tuned! Not really! But reviews would still be nice.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Four**

Ed pushed the pillow down over his head, trying to muffle the sound of Mustang's loud snoring.

Roy had two guest rooms, each with a bed and not much cleaner than the rest of the place. Al had dragged one of the mattresses into Roy's bedroom, and he managed to find some blankets that weren't devoured by moths. Alphonse had to do this because Roy refused to move from his study, which meant he was stuck there.

Ed snorted and turned over, his pillow still over his ears and wet hair. Luckily, Mustang's bathroom had been fairly small so one of them could stand outside while the other took a shower or used the bathroom or something. It was still weird as hell, coming outside to Roy leaning against his wall with his eyes closed, muttering something under his breath.

Ed gritted his teeth, clenching his eyes shut. The damn colonel snored so loudly, how the hell could he manage to fall asleep? Part of him wished he had asked Al to stay in the room with him, but he quickly choked that selfish thought down. Al was downstairs in Roy's study, reading. It was better that he had something to preoccupy his nights other than his older brother's pointless whining. The alchemist rolled onto his back, letting his arms lay on his sides. Maybe he could smother the jerk with a pillow and be done with him. Ed almost laughed at the thought, knowing full well he was full of it yet at the same time wishing he wasn't.

He hated having to be around the bastard for just the day. How the hell was he supposed to deal with him for a week? And why the hell didn't he do anything to stop it!? Ed knew full well Mustang could've torched the crazy psychopath and then they would've been good and go back to avoiding each other as much as possible. So why didn't he?

Ed let out an angry sigh, hardly hearing it between Roy's loud exhales. Why was he thinking that Mustang should fix all of his damn troubles? He rolled over onto his stomach.

"_I'm always CLEANING UP YOUR MESSES."_

Ed groaned at the memory, pushing his pillow over his head. Boron, Aluminum, Phosphorus, Carbon, Hydrogen, Fluoride, Nitrogen…. Did he screw up that often? Dammit. Silicon, Oxygen, Titanium, Burium…

So Hawkeye had no intention of having them see Abigale? Was she just there?

No…No, that wasn't it. Ed sat up, backing up so he was leaning against the wall. She must've been there for a reason, but what? Did she know that he and Mustang would go there? That couldn't be it; there was no way she could've known. So it was just by chance that he and Roy got involved in whatever she was scheming? The only way she could've known would be if Hawkeye or Al told her. No, there would be no way Al would've told someone anything like that. He knew to keep personal things personal.

So that really only left Hawkeye, unless someone else was listening…

His eyes darted to the silhouette of the sleeping colonel. There was no way he could accuse the Lieutenant of such a thing with him around. He seemed to be more attached to his Lieutenant than he let on.

"Hawkeye…" the man mumbled as if on cue, rolling onto his side and hugging his pillow to chest. Ed looked at him for a long moment before snorting. Did he even want to know what the bastard was dreaming about?

Edward laid back down on his mattress and wrapped his blanket around his shoulders. His eyes were growing heavier and heavier, yet he found he couldn't sleep. What was it keeping him awake?

The nightmares.

He cursed himself quietly. If he fell asleep and had another one of his nightmares, no doubt would lead to the Colonel's further mockery of him. Al would have to come in and wake him up and- Ed bit his lip on the selfish thought. Al shouldn't have to deal with his troubled dreams. Hell, Ed thought it'd be nice for Al to have a nightmare that didn't go on for eternity.

Eventually, however much he feared his dreams, he drifted off into a troublesome sleep.

**Line**

"Ed! Hey Ed, get your ass out of bed!" Roy snapped, prodding the teen in the side.

Ed opened his eyes sluggishly, muttering choice words. "Wha…."

"Al managed to convince me to let you sleep in a bit, but it's almost ten in the morning and I'm not that damn patient!" he hissed, stepping on Ed's side for good measure as he got up. Ed coughed in protest, glaring at the Colonel as he stretched. _Who's fault is it I'm so tired, again?_

Edward pushed himself up, coughing quietly into his balled fist. Dammit, he better not be getting sick. Imagine, being sick while chained to this- He coughed again, louder. Roy turned his head to look at him, one brow raised casually.

"Getting sick?"

"No I'm not, I'm just coughing because you decided to use me as a damn door mat!" Ed spat, convincing himself on that moment that that was the reason why. He lurched to his feet, dusting himself off and choosing not to look at the Colonel.

"Good." Roy yawned. "Lieutenant Hawkeye called earlier and Alphonse told me she came up with an ample excuse for me not to come into work today. So for now, we could figure out how to work with this damn chain and maybe see if we could find something out. Now hurry up, I'm hungry." The man strolled out of the room as he said this, the blasted chain tugging at Ed's neck and forcing him to be dragged along by Roy.

Before he could lose his balance and make a fool of himself, he hurried to catch up to Mustang and match his stride, although he was slightly behind him. Again, he coughed quietly into his fist. As they made their way downstairs, he caught the scent of bacon. Alphonse is making quite an effort to make Ed feel better…

"Good morning Brother, Colonel Mustang." Al said politely, putting down two plates for their breakfast. Two strips of bacon, two eggs, and two pieces of toast for each of them. Ed sat down and started digging in while Roy poked the eggs with a fork.

"Alphonse, I don't mean to insult you or anything, but… How do you cook this with no sense of…well, being able to feel?" Roy asked.

"Um…Well…" Al poked together two of his metallic fingers. "It's hard to explain, I can kind of… well… I see it, I guess."

Ed snorted. "He watches the food and can tell when it's done cooking, okay?" Al sighed at his older brother's rudeness.

"I spent a lot of time cooking with my mother when I was young, so I guess I could just tell."

"Does it matter how he cooks?" Ed muttered with his mouth full of toast. "He can, and it tastes delicious."

Roy rolled his eyes at Ed's annoyed tone and took an experimental nibble of one of the eggs. Deeming it worthy of his eating, he made a quick job of devouring the meal. After he swallowed the last of the toast, he wiped his mouth with his napkin and got up.

"All right Ed, hurry up and finish or I'm dragging you by your throat." He said nonchalantly*.

"What? Where are we going?" Ed asked, his golden eyes studying the man.

"To my study. I want to see something." Ed twitched, annoyed with the Colonel's hard-to-read personality. Roy had already begun to depart from the room, dragging Ed along with him.

"I'll be there soon, Brother." Al called after them "I'm just going to clean up here, okay?"

"Hurry up." Ed said, internally wincing at the bitterness in addressing his own brother. It was the damn colonel's fault. This entire thing was the damn colonel's fault. Ed's anger fumed as he glared daggers into Roy's back. He hated this situation. He hated being around the bastard, he hated the bastard himself.

Overall, he hated the fact this situation kept him from achieving what he _needed_ to do.

**Hahaha, too lazy to go back up and write an A/N. So, I don't own FMA. And I managed to update before school started. (Actually it was supposed to start today, but the roads are covered in ice.)**

**Um…. This one is a bit short, because it's a slow chapter with not much going on. And those chapters are boring. Boring to read and write. So I'm sorry.**

**I'm so, so sorry.**

**To:**

**Meladi1: Explosions are amusing, aren't they? :3 But no, that's not how it'll end. Maybe.**

**CressidaRene: Thank you for the lengthy reviews. I love them. :D Also good for you, asking questions. I'll try and answer them, but not just bluntly. 'Cause that's boring.**

***Already talked to Sokkasm, hope I fixed the issue this chapter.***

**Bluefire21: hahahaha, you're right. But I dunno, I guess I assume they're used to Roy randomly setting stuff on fire.**

**SapphireClaw: 'Too terrible'? Like what, he draws pictures of Ed bleeding to death? Like someone I know. SOMEONE WHO I MAY BE ADRESSING RIGHT NOW. No, he doesn't do that. BUT SOMEONE DOES. **

**Don't expect me to respond to reviews in the A/Ns a lot, only doing it this once for the time.  
For an experiment.**


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